Category: Super moon

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Blue Super Moon with Blood Red Lunar Eclipse

Blue Super Moon with Blood Red Lunar Eclipse

Blue Super Moon with Blood Red Lunar Eclipse: I thought about sleeping in. I was pretty sure I would have to go elsewhere to see this one. I had really enjoyed the September 30, 2015 Blood Red Lunar Eclipse. That took place on a beautiful autumn evening, at a reasonable hour. This is winter, and the eclipse was during sleeping hours! Not intentionally, I woke up at 3:30 am. “OK, why not go see where this moon is now?” It was actually in a reasonable spot for me to see and photograph it from the beginning of the eclipse until its height. I would not be able to see it set, but in the end, that was OK. Once dawn arrived, the moon faded in the light, even though it was still red. You just couldn’t see the red in the light of day. It worked for me. 🙂

The first image in this gif was photographed at 4:02am MST. The last image in this gif was photographed at 6:25am.

The weather was remarkably good for the last day of January. Climate change has blessed New Mexico with an extremely mild winter (with a resulting curse of return of drought and greater risk of wildfires, etc.). The temperature was right around 32 degrees F throughout. Early on there was a light breeze, but no breeze at all toward the end.

Blue Super Moon Blood Red Lunar Eclipse
Blue Super Moon with Blood Red Lunar Eclipse

I know how fortunate I am to have witnessed a blood red lunar eclipse twice in less than two and a half years (along with some other remarkable celestial events).

Thanks for stopping by and allowing me to share this with you.

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Prelude to a Blue Moon Super Moon Blood Red Lunar Eclipse

blue moon super moon

Moon Rise as a Prelude to a Blue Moon Super Moon Blood Red Eclipse

Prelude to a blue moon super moon eclipse: the night before was sublime!

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Prelude to a Blue Moon Super Moon Blood Red Lunar Eclipse

Moon rise tonight was beautiful less than twelve hours before the blood red total lunar eclipse. For information on where to see it in your area, check out this link.

Happy viewing (or sleeping in 🙂 )

(A post on the September 2015 Blood Red Lunar Eclipse is at this link.)

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Beginning of a Spectacular Week for Sky Watching

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Beginning of a Spectacular Week for Sky Watching

sky watching
Sunrise at the Beginning of a Spectacular Week for Sky Watching

Beginning of a spectacular week for sky watching: sunrise today was one of the most brilliant I have seen in a few weeks. It was an appropriate beginning for this week.

January 31 a Super Moon Blood Red Eclipse occurs. This is a useful link for information about timing of the eclipse. This is set for Albuquerque, but can be adjusted for your spot for viewing.

I photographed the September 2015 Blood Red Lunar Eclipse. The link to that post is here.

This past week, the Super Moon has been rising in the afternoon. Even in a bright sky, this moon stands out as different from the usual. It is large, and bright even in the afternoon.

Sunrise this morning was simply a spectacular beginning to a spectacular week ahead for celestial events. Happy watching!

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Supermoon December 2016

supermoon

Waxing Supermoon, December 2016, Rising over Sandia Mountains at Sunset

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Waxing December Supermoon Rising over Sandia Mountains at Sunset

The supermoon of December 2016 is not quite as impressive as November’s. However, it would take an expert in moons to really be able to tell that with the naked eye, at least in the waxing phase.

Full moon will take place on December 13. Here in Albuquerque, moonrise is set for 5:09pm. But, about another 30 minutes or so is required for the moon to clear the mountains. The sky will be dark for the full moonrise. Photographing moonrise in daylight is so much more fun. The alpenglow on the Sandia Mountains at sunset, combined with a very bright waxing moon, was too beautiful not to photograph and share.

I hope you can see the moon where you are in the next few days.

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Super Moon, Blue and Golden Hours

Super Moon

Super Moon, Blue and Golden Hours

Super Moon with Blue and Golden Hours of dawn, November 15, 2016 was a beautiful start to the day.

I had not intended to photograph the Super Moon this morning (Tuesday) because I had an early morning appointment for which I had to get ready. But that did not stop me from going out to see how the moon looked today. It was beautiful, as it had been in previous days. I did not have time to set up the tripod and shoot a series, although it would have been nice. I grabbed my camera, took a deep breath, and said to myself, “you can hand hold this for a few images.”

This first image is from 6:39 am MST, during “Blue Hour.” It is never an actual hour in most places. It is the time when the sun is below the horizon, either before dawn or after sunset, when the indirect sunlight has a predominantly blue hue. You can clearly see that in this first image.

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Super Moon at Blue Hour

This second image was taken at 6:47 am MST, just 8 minutes later. This is transition from “Blue Hour” into “Golden Hour.”

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Super Moon Near Sunrise, at Transition of Blue to Golden Hour

I’ve always been a fan of “Golden Hour,” because it is such flattering light, not only to people but also to landscapes. The moon looks pretty good at Blue Hour. 🙂 I think in the coming year I’ll try to practice more Blue Hour photography, just for fun.

This Super Moon has provided days of fun!

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Super Moon over Three Days

super moon

Super Moon over Three Days and Best Laid Plans

Super moon this November has been spectacular, even in the afternoon hours. Saturday I photographed the moonrise over the Sandias, partly because it was so beautiful, and partly because I wanted to prepare for photographing tonight (Sunday, November 13). I’m really glad I have the images from Saturday. You have seen the animated gif already, and this is a black and white of the moon on Saturday night.

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Moonrise, November 12, 2016

Late Sunday afternoon I set up my tripod, and got the camera set in such a way that I would be able to make final adjustments quickly when the moon rose. From where I live in Albuquerque, moonrise is never at the time the Tables say, because the moon has to clear the Sandia Mountains and not the horizon before becoming visible. I knew a lot of light would not be left by the time the moon actually appeared, but I had hoped for some. However, I was more disappointed than surprised when it was dark.

I was even more surprised by where the moon finally appeared. I was expecting relatively close to where you see it in the image above. That is not where it rose!!! Rather, it rose to the left of that tree, in between the tree and a neighbor’s swamp cooler. This was a learning experience. I moved the tripod and adjusted the camera settings. Because I had so much fun making an animated gif yesterday, I took a series for another gif. Then I made images specifically for the close-to-full (99.6%) moon.

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Super Moon November 13, 2016
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November 2016 Super Moon

Because this moon was to be its largest near dawn of Monday, November 14, I got up to see what was visible. It was still dark. At 6:11 am MST I was able to get this clear shot. Note the slightly orange color as the moon is closer to the horizon.

Super Moon
Super Moon 6:11 am MST

I have been reminded with this moon how quickly the light changes at sunset and sunrise. I’ve known that, but was definitely reminded! The images in this gif were made between 6:19 and 6:26 am, MST. There was no way to avoid seeing the moon through neighborhood trees from my home. It was still fun to make a gif.

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Super Moon Moon Set

I hope you have enjoyed three days of the November 2016 Super Moon as much as I have enjoyed sharing it with you.

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Prelude to a Full Super Moon

Prelude to a Full Super Moon

Prelude to a full super moon – what does that mean, anyway? Shortly after 6:00 am on November 14, the “largest” moon between now and 2034 will officially be “full.” The largest this moon will appear at moonrise will be tomorrow, November 13. Some of us who have photographed various moon phenomena find ourselves a little bored with just a bright full moon against a dark sky. Moonrise tommorrow will happen in light. It will be dusk, but not dark. For photographers, that presents an exciting challenge. Today I decided to practice with a series. All the camera settings are the same in this series. The images were photographed from 4:39 pm to 5:00 pm MST. Notice the changing light on the Sandia Mountains. A couple of frames have birds flying through; I left them. I hope you enjoy this “night before the night before the morning of…” in gif format. It loads slowly, and then repeats at normal speed.

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Prelude to a Full Super Moon

You can use this link to find moonrise times for your location.

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November Moon

November Moon

November Moon – The Largest Super Moon of 2016

November Moon – so many thoughts come to mind. I was aware the year’s largest Super Moon will be full on November 14, but will rise the largest on November 13. Yesterday, November 10, driving home around 3:00 or 4:00, I noticed the moon was well above the Sandia Mountains, and still appeared HUGE in the daylight. I did not get a photograph yesterday, but friend Tim Price posted a fabulous shot on his blog.

Today I made a point of being home in the late afternoon. I wanted to try to photograph the moon in daylight over the mountains and fall foliage. Have I ever said how much I love New Mexico?

November Moon
November Moon Over Sandia Mountains, Prelude to Super Moon Full Moon
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Blood Red Lunar Eclipse

Blood Red Lunar Eclipse

The Blood Red Lunar Eclipse of September 27, 2015, was indeed spectacular in the crystal clear high desert skies over Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In April of 2015 I had gone out in the middle of a cold night to see the brief one that occurred then. I’m glad I made the effort to see that one, because it gave me an appreciation for everything about this one that led to all of the hype.

This is a time lapse slideshow of some of my images from the eclipse:

 

This gallery of images highlights some of the major markers during the course of the eclipse:

This is a time lapse composite of the spectacular Blood Red Moon lunar eclipse of September 27, 2015, as seen in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

blood red lunar eclipse
Time Lapse Composite of “Blood Red Moon” Eclipse on September 27, 2015, Albuquerque, New Mexico

The skies here never disappoint.

I hope you have enjoyed this presentation of images, whether you got to see the eclipse in person and especially if you did not. I appreciate your interest!

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Supermoon

Tonight’s so called “supermoon,” when the moon is closer to the earth than at some other times, making it appear larger and brighter.

supermoon
Supermoon, June 23, 2013
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